On The Record Episode 63: Yelp and online criticism

Aside from being a bastion of cat memes, poorly researched political discourse, and adult content, the Internet can be used to archive and access a wealth of information. Some of that information stretches to evaluations of pretty much everything under the sun, including reviews of businesses. As useful as having the thoughts, opinions, and dissections of nearly every bar, restaurant, and pet groomer at one’s fingertips might be, we’re living in an age in which anyone with enough spare time or a website can moonlight as a critic.

In an era of unprecedented online criticism, how can prospective consumers possibly sift through the noise to figure out, simply, what’s good? To many people, the answer to that question is Yelp. Like it or lump it, the popular online review resource and its numerous counterparts are here to stay, both throughout the world and right here in Milwaukee. In her time as Yelp Milwaukee Marketing & Community Director, Rachel Fell (lower right) has helped foster a passionate and (predominately) positive community of reviewers while also developing a localized presence for the polarizing international corporation. Fell and host Tyler Maas met up to discuss how she happened upon her unique position, the ups and downs of online criticism, and how quality and care are still paramount to a business’ success.

As always, this episode is brought to you by our friends at Ale Asylum. Music in this episode comes courtesy of Piles (“Blue Glue”) and Paper Holland (“Jazzy Jeff”). Subscribe to On The Record via iTunes or Stitcher (for free!).